Democrat leaders have issued a warning that hacked documents may have been doctored by Russian hackers. The warning may help protect Hillary Clinton’s reputation should a cyber attack occur in October.
Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader, is one of the top Democrats issuing the warning. The alarm echoes what security experts have been saying: Russian security services have a reputation for doctoring documents and images. Russian hackers have also been known to hide fake, damaging details amid genuine information.
Democrat strategists say the party is smart to issue warnings about fake leaks as it prepares for a new potential batch of information from hackers just before election day.
“It is certainly a valid issue to raise, because clearly the people who are doing these attacks have a political agenda that’s against the Democratic Party,” says Anita Dunn, a former White House communications director.
Republicans argue that Democrats are merely trying to distract the public’s attention from the contents of the leaked documents.
“If there was a massive trove of emails or documents relating to the Clinton campaign or the Clinton Foundation…they may just say, ‘Look the authenticity of the emails hasn’t been confirmed,” said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist.
In total, the hackers allegedly infiltrated over 100 party groups and officials. Democrats are concerned that the party’s entire network has been compromised.
